I haven’t written much about how I’ve been feeling throughout my first trimester, mostly because there hasn’t been much to write about. Other than the desire to sleep an average of 12 hours/day and an insatiable desire to eat us out of house and home. Hugging the porcelain throne? The only time I even came close was during a 72 hour period somewhere around my 7th week in which I began to worry that nausea was bound to be my closest friend through the first trimester, and maybe even through my entire pregnancy. Turns out I’m likely going to be one of the lucky pregnant women who never feels the sting of bile on her tongue in relation to the baby in her baby.

This is something I had not expected. My own mother had extremely difficult pregnancies, especially in relation to nausea. I came into pregnancy expecting the worst, and instead, so far, I’ve been handed something of the best. I’m grateful not to be throwing up, but insatiable hunger without heaving = weight gain, something I find very scary.  I want to avoid gestational diabetes at all costs, something I believe can be prevented through exercise, good nutrition, and limiting weight gain to healthy levels.

Although those close to me tend to react negatively when I point it out (a nice thing to do I guess, but doesn’t make any less factual), I was overweight before I become pregnant. Even if somehow I wasn’t considered socially overweight, I was certainly medically overweight. Good sources pertaining to pregnancy data can be tough to find, but all the sources, whether good or bad, seem to agree on recommended weight gain averages for underweight, normal, and overweight women.

  • 25-37 pounds if you were a healthy weight before pregnancy.
  • 28-40 pounds if you were underweight before pregnancy.
  • 15-25 pounds if you were overweight before pregnancy.

Source (Similar data here and here)

For me, no more than 25 lbs is the goal. Because of the magical program FitDay I know that my weight around the time of conception was 153.6, and is now hovering anywhere between 160-163 lbs. That puts me at 7-10 lbs gained already with a baby that still has a lot of room to grow. Losing weight is a no-no so limiting excess weight gain is my only option. I’m focusing on putting the best food possible in my body for the sake of both my baby and me.

A good deal of my stress stems from feeling a big trapped. I’ve never gained weight and been unable to do something about it before. I’ve spent the last several years of my life restricting my calories in an attempt to reach my goal weight. My goal each day was to keep my caloric intake at 1300-1400 calories/day, or a calorie restriction of 500-600 calories/day. Now that I’m in my second trimester I’m supposed to be eating somewhere between 2100-2400 calories/day. When you’re focusing on eating fruits, vegetables, protein, whole grains and avoiding “carbage” (more on that one later), with a budget that doesn’t allow for eating out very often, filling that hunger in the right way can be really tough. It’s when I try to reach that number the lazy way that I run into trouble. It’s those times that I become lazy that I stress about, and will continue to stress about.

I’ve had a few people ask me about belly bump shots, which I will of course be taking throughout. I plan to try to take them in the same outfit, same spot, same light, same pose all the way through April and then try to morph them together into a slideshow that really shows how the bump has grown. I wish I had a better spot to do them in, but right next to the door in the office is the best lit blank slate in our apartment.

I’ll show you the 12 week shots (the first round, I didn’t think it made any sense to take any before then) but I probably won’t be showing you any more until I emerge from the “I feel like I look chubby” into the “I feel like I popped” stage. That belly you see is holding a teeny tiny little one the size of a lemon and a great big wad of lard… for the purpose of keeping baby safe I guess? Baby bump still can’t be seen or felt and I’ll let you know when it officially can be.

20090927 mg 8675 Pregnancy Weight Gain Goals

20090927 mg 8674 Pregnancy Weight Gain Goals

20090927 mg 8681 Pregnancy Weight Gain Goals

20090927 mg 8680 Pregnancy Weight Gain Goals

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